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David Schwartz, who co-created the XRP Ledger and later served as Ripple’s chief technology officer, said he sold roughly 2.5 million XRP during 2025 and paid about $1.7 million in capital gains tax on those trades, according to Protos. The disclosures came in a series of posts on X dated November 9 and 10, 2026, in which Schwartz also said he has not bought XRP in a long time and is uncomfortable with financial risk.
Key facts
- Schwartz sold about 2.5 million XRP in 2025 and said he paid approximately $1.7 million in capital gains tax, as he stated in a post on his X account.
- He said his XRP stack dropped from a peak of around 26 million to about 3 million, per crypto.news, which also reported his Bitcoin fell from roughly 1,500 BTC to one BTC and his Ethereum from about 40,000 ETH to six ETH.
- Most of the XRP he sold arrived in 2020 and 2023 as bonuses, he said.
- He said each sale is arranged through a written plan agreed with an attorney at least 30 days before execution, to avoid claims that he traded on nonpublic information such as reports of XRPL bugs.
- Schwartz stepped down from the CTO role in September 2025 after seven years and is now CTO Emeritus.
Why the disclosure drew criticism
The posts landed while XRP traded near $1.06, and some holders questioned why Ripple-linked figures have reduced exposure while investors keep holding, crypto.news reported. Schwartz responded to accusations that he had dumped the token by pointing to the tax bill, saying the $1.7 million he paid in capital gains tax says otherwise, per U.Today. He has also said he still owns a considerable amount of Ripple stock and that the position alone carries more risk than he would prefer.
Also read: Ripple CEO Garlinghouse Says He Owns 'a Lot of XRP'
Nasdaq Private Market data cited by Protos put Ripple shares at almost $94, down 22% over the past year but up 237% over two years. Schwartz has said in the past that buying Ripple stock on the secondary market offers direct exposure to the company, but that most people probably should not do it.
Record-keeping gaps and remaining questions
Schwartz has said his lifetime XRP sales were never fully disclosed and that he never held a nine-figure quantity of the token. He wrote in April 2024 that his all-time peak was 26 million XRP. crypto.news reported his current holdings at around 3 million XRP, while U.Today reported he said in August 2026 his stack had shrunk to about 2 million from about 26 million — the two outlets differ on the current figure, and the more recent November posts are the basis for the 3 million number. Ripple has not said whether other executives follow similar trading procedures.
Schwartz said he and his wife agreed to sell portions of their holdings whenever prices reached new all-time highs, a rule he has described as a way to sleep better at night. He has also said he regretted selling earlier, including XRP near $0.10 and Ethereum near $1.
Why it matters
The episode puts attention on how senior figures at crypto companies manage personal holdings, particularly when a token is under selling pressure. XRP spot exchange-traded funds recorded about $10.42 million in net outflows on November 9, with Bitwise accounting for most of the withdrawals, crypto.news reported. Ripple developers accidentally deleted the XRP Ledger’s first 32,569 blocks, erasing early transaction records, which has long made executive holdings hard to verify. Jed McCaleb reportedly made $3 billion selling his XRP over the years, while Arthur Britto’s holdings are hard to trace.
Nothing in the disclosures amounts to financial advice, and investors should treat personal trading decisions by executives as one data point among many; crypto markets are volatile and unpredictable.
What to watch
Whether Ripple states a company-wide policy on executive crypto trading, and whether XRP ETF flows reverse from the November 9 outflows, are the concrete items that will shape the next phase of this story.
Reported by Protos.